The BNB Smart Chain’s Fermi hard fork is set for mainnet activation on Jan. 14, after two months in the testnet phase. Fermi will lower block interval to 250 milliseconds to support time-sensitive applications. The upgrade introduces extended voting parameters and a new indexing mechanism for partial ledger data access.

BNB Chain is striving to become a high-throughput chain, currently processing 222 TPS with a theoretical maximum of 6,349 TPS. Blockchain protocols lag behind traditional financial systems like Visa, which handles about 1,700 TPS. BNB Chain’s active address count has reached 2,871,208, comparable to Solana’s active address count.

Blockchain networks with lower TPS can hinder DeFi applications due to lag and slippage issues. Slippage occurs when market orders are not filled at the spot price. The push towards higher throughput aims to make distributed systems competitive with centralized counterparts in the financial system.

Read more at Cointelegraph: BNB Chain Fermi Upgrade Slated for January 2026 Rollout